


What's the term for cybertronian stockholm syndrome?

by TKXHV



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: I don't know if stockholm syndrome is even accurate to this, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 15:24:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10642656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TKXHV/pseuds/TKXHV
Summary: The Pet's identity was discovered. A rescue mission took place. Dominus is back. Dominus does not feel like he is back.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a small idea I had months ago. Unbeta'd because it is very late at night, if you spot any errors I beg of you to let me know so I can fix them.
> 
> Either way I hope you enjoy the fic.

It hurt to be bipedal again.

The brand new transformation cog in his side itched like a bitter, invasive thing.

Dominus tried not to let his discomfort show, it was a miracle he was recovering the way he was, only a portion of his memories were able to be recovered, anything more and the mnemosurgeon operation would have died.  
Being forcibly lobotomized for so long, "under such torturous circumstances" the medics told him, was bound to have its repercussions, and he was lucky they were able to recover any memories at all.

But Dominus kept finding himself waking in his turbofox alt-mode, curled up at the foot of his medibay berth. He compulsively growled and grunted at others instead of speaking, even though his vocalizer had been fully repaired and was perfectly functional for speech. He digs his fingers into his palms to stop himself from instinctively striking out and clawing at Autobot badges.  
Dominus's own badge had been replaced several times, but he had mindlessly scratched it off so many times that nobody bothered to replace it anymore.

Despite all of this, everyone was trying their best to help him, to be accommodating and offering sympathy to his plight and harsh cruel words to the ones who had done this to him.

It all felt hollow. Not the other Autobot's actions, the intentions were pure and genuine, but none of it felt right.

Dominus wasn't stupid, he'd picked up on what was wrong with him the instant he'd caught sight of a red mech from the corner of his eye and felt his spark surge with joy, only for it to crash when he realized it wasn't who he thought it was.  
He knew he should have felt ashamed, he should feel disgusted with himself that he missed them, all of them. Dominus knew it was wrong and tried to tell himself over and over again that he should stop having these feelings was but to no avail, the internal pining dragged on.  
He remembered enough of his life before going undercover to know who he was, who he used to be, but the memories of being in the unit, both as Vos and as a pet, were as clear as day.  
It was overwhelming.

He should have told the medics what was wrong so he could be assigned a psychiatrist so he could be fixed. But he never did.

Dominus made himself think of Rewind, one of the few things that crawled out of his old memories. He made himself think of being able to finally see him again after all this time. And for a while it kept him strong, focusing on recovery so he could see his conjunx endura again.

Then someone let slip that Rewind had found someone else.

"He never stopped looking for you!" the mech quickly reassured him when they saw his face fall, "Rewind's been so determined all this time. We haven't contacted him about finding you yet because we thought you'd want to make more progress in your recovery before seeing him again."  
The mech asked if Dominus wanted them to get a hold of Rewind.  
Dominus said no.  
Dominus said no and meant it.

He was genuinely happy for Rewind. He was sad, of course, but Dominus did not blame him in the least for moving on and was relieved that he found someone he loved enough to become conjunx with.  
It was better this way.  
Rewind didn't deserve what Dominus had been whittled away to.

So, Dominus had gone and done this.

In the dead-quiet of the night cycle, he had snuck out of the medibay and withstood his bipedal form long enough to locate and steal the smallest ship he could. Inputting coordinates into console and locking it on autopilot.  
He curled up by the pilot seat as a turbofox and stayed there, unmoving until his destination was reached.

It was unclear to him how much time had passed.  
Space gave no clear indication.  
Messatine's night and day cycle was skewed, he only knew night was approaching from the slowly darkening sky.  
He trudged through the thick snow to the unyielding fortress that was his destination.  
The proximity sensors would have gone off by now.  
The itch in his side lessened as he drew closer and closer to the base.

 

The red mech stood alone at the entrance, the others surely watching through the many security cameras, with a gun held steadily in his hands and a heavy scowl gracing his face.  
The gun was raised as he came closer, but was not fired.  
He slowed his approach, tail lowered and head bowed, his ears pressed as flat as he could.

"Stop." the red mech ordered.  
He did.

For a moment, the only sound was the distant howling wind over the lonely, icy landscape.

"The Autobots tried to fix you, didn't they?"  
Tried. The red mech knew that it would be too generous an assumption to believe that the Pet could ever be returned to who he used to be.

The turbofox nodded.

"Why are you here?"

Why....  
The turbofox didn't have the words for it. Even if he chose to speak. Which he did not.  
He knew it was deplorable, it wasn't the right thing to do, if he had given the treatments from the Autobots a longer chance to work he might be okay.  
But this was the only path the turbofox saw for himself.

The turbofox said nothing.  
The turbofox bowed his head even lower, back arched downward in defeated acceptance, a single melancholy whine escaping him.  
The turbofox closed his optics, hearing the red mech step forward and the gun being shifted in his grip.

The turbofox was ready for whatever happened next.

**Author's Note:**

> Have fun with the ambiguous ending!


End file.
